Billfolds



Oct. 7, 1969 E. KERY BILLFOLDS Filed Oct. 9. 1967 KERY R 0 T N E vN WV. R

ATTORNEYS United States Patent O US. Cl. 1509-38 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE 3,470,931 Patented Oct. 7, 1969 2 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawing, in which the same reference numerals designate the same parts in all of the views;

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the opened billfold looking at the inside thereof;

A billfold having an elongated outer panel and an elongated inner panel, the inner panel being continuous but having a slot extending transversely of the billfold along the fold line thereof. In one form of the invention the slot is closed at both ends and the outer panel is slightly wedge-shaped in plan view to provide increased BACKGROUND OF THE iNvENTIoN Field of the invention The present invention pertains to mens or ladies billfolds of leather or the like having inner and outer panels between which bills are accommodated, the inner panel having one or more pockets on each side of the transverse fold line.

Description of the prior art Heretof-ore, with leather billfolds of the type with which the present invention is concerned, there has always been the problem of buckling at the transverse fold line, particularly when the billfold is overloaded. To overcome this buckling tendency it has generally been customary to have separate inner panels on the two sides of the transverse fold line with a telescoping connecting piece spanning the two panels. This is an expensive construction. It has also been attempted to eliminate buckling by a socalled shrunk front construction. Here there is a continuous inner panel stitched at its ends to the outer panel but of less length at both the upper and lower edges. At the lower edge the stitching between the inner and outer panels is eliminated adjacent the center so that there is a built-in transverse bulge in the outer panel at the trans verse fold line due to its extra length. This type of construction is objectionable in appearance when the billfold is opened out.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved billfold having a continuous inner panel stitched at its ends and lower edge to the outer panel, in which the inner panel has a transverse slot at the transverse fold line of the billfold to minimize the buckling tendency when the billfold is folded over, which tendency is particularly acute when the billfold is overloaded.

A further object of the invention is to provide, as one form of the invention, a billfold as above described in which the transverse slot is closed at both ends, and in which the outer panel of the billfold is specially shaped so that when its ends and bottom are stitched at the ends and bottom of the inner panel, the upper edge of the outer panel normally bows away from the upper edge of the inner panel to increase the capacity. Thus, when the billfold is folded, the buckling tendency is minimized.

A further object of the invention is to provide a billfold which is relatively simple in design and construction, neat in appearance, and otherwise well adapted for the purposes described.

FIG. 2 is a view looking at the upper edge of the billfold of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the blank for the outer panel;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the blank for the inner panel; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view looking at the center of an opened billfold, showing a modification.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the billfold is preferably constructed of leather, plastic, or other flexible material. It includes an outer panel 10 and a continuous inner panel 11. The inner panel may have one or more pockets 12 on its right hand side, and one or more pockets 13 on its left hand side.

The outer panel 10 is slightly wedge-shaped, having its side edges diverging upwardly slightly as shown in FIG. 3, so that the upper edge of the outer panel is of somewhat greater length than the lower edge. In a conventional mens billfold this diiference in length is preferably about of an inch, but this may be varied somewhat one way or the other. The diverging side edges have projecting flanges 14, and there is a projecting upper edge flange 15 and a projecting lower edge flange 16, which provide turned edges in the final product.

The inner panel shown in FIG. 4 is formed of a continuous piece of leather or like material which is of true rectangular shape, as distinguished from the slightly wedge shape of the outer panel. In the form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 the inner panel has a transverse slot 17 whose ends terminate short of both the upper and lower edges of the panel 11 to leave narrow connecting pieces 18 and 19.

In assembly, the pocket pieces 12 and 13 are first stitched in position to the inner panel 11. Then the inner panel is superimposed on the outer panel of FIG. 3 in the position shown by dot and dash lines in FIG. 3, the upper edge flange 15 of the outer panel having been first turned down and stitched in position by stitches 30, as shown in FIG. 1. Next, the lower edge flange 16 is turned up and stitched by stitches 31 throughout its length over the lower edge of the inner panel as shown in FIG. 1, the stitching passing through the flange and both the inner and outer panels. Then, while holding the upper edge of the outer panel in outwardly-bowed condition, as shown in FIG. 2, the end flanges 14 are turned over and rows of stitching 20 and 21 are stitched through all of the layers of material at the ends. This then holds the assembled panels in approximately the condition of FIG. 2.

It is to be noted from FIG. 1 that the construction permits having stitching extending throughout the length of the lower turned edge flange 16. In prior non-buckling constructions it has been the practice to omit the stitching at the lower edge between the two pockets, such as between the pockets 12 and 13, so as to allow for greater length at both the upper and lower edges of the outer panel. The stitched-through construction is, however, a great advantage as it makes a neater-looking billfold and causes the lower edge to wear longer. By having the outwardly-bowed upper edge of the outer panel there is plenty of room in the billfold for a large number of bills, and the inner panel has flexibility at the transverse fold line F because of the limited width of the connecting piece 19. Thus folding of the billfold to book form on the transverse fold line F is facilitated and the amount of material at the fold line is reduced because of the slot 17.

As an alternative construction, the slot 17 of FIG. 4 may be made to extend all the way to the upper edge of the inner panel as shown by slot 117 in FIG. 5 so that the slot, in eifect, has an open upper end. Everything else in the construction of FIG. 5 is the same as shown in FIG. 1, the slot of FIG. 5 having the same closed lower end as FIG. 1. With this arrangement it is unnecessary to have the slightly wedge-shaped outer panel, the front and back panels being of the same general dimensions. The reason for this is that the open upper end of the slot 117 eliminates the connecting piece 19 of FIG. 4 and the slot 117 provides a non-buckling construction.

While no bill compartment divider has been shown in FIG. 2, it is obvious that one may be employed between the panels and 11 if desired. Such dividers are cornmonly stitched at their lower edges only and have their end edges loose. Thus there is no buckling problem presented by such dividers and one has not been illustrated.

From the above it is obvious that either form of the invention provides a billfold having increased capacity due to the built-in feature which minimizes the tendency of a billfold to buckle, and which makes it possible to have a completely stitched, bottom-turned edge. The improved billfold eliminates the necessity of employing expensive and complicated telescoping connecting pieces.

While the improved construction is particularly adapted for use in billfolds, it is obvious that it is suitable for use in other foldable pocket items. Also, while in the illustrated embodiment the inner panel is shown as stitched at its lower edge as at 16 to the outer panel, it may obviously be secured by other means, or may be integral with and foldable from the lower edge of the outer panel, and the term secured to in the claims contemplates any of such alternatives. It is also to be pointed out that the feature of having the outer panel bowed away from the inner panel is useful whether or not the inner panel has the slot 17 of FIG. 1.

What I claim is:

1. A pocket billfold of a size and shape to receive bills and foldable on a transverse center fold line intermediate the length of said bills and having an outer panel, and billcontacting inner panel-forming means with a bill-accommodating space between said outer panel and said inner panel-forming means, said inner panel-forming means being secured at its end and lower edges to the end and lower edges of the outer panel, said inner panel-forming means having upper edges which are separable from the outer panel to provide access to said bill compartment, wherein the inner panel-forming means has an open upperended transverse slot extending downwardly from its upper edge and terminating just short of the lower edge of the billfold and positioned over the bill compartment and over the transverse center line of the billfold to expose bills therebelow and to reduce bulk at the fold line, said slot providing oppositely-disposed free upper corners intermediate the length of the inner panel-forming means, and a pocket-forming panel superimposed on said inner panel-forming means on at least one side of said transverse slot and having an end opening adjacent said slot.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,815,083 7/1931 Weinberg -38 1,821,379 9/ 1931 Epstein 150-38 2,609,025 9/1952 Tolbert 150-38 DONALD F. NORTON, Primary Examiner 

